"Some of our players are receiving very serious messages. These messages have already been reported [to the competent authorities], because Estoril will no longer allow attacks on its players. We will take legal action against anyone who attacks our players, wherever the attack comes from. I demand the following from Portuguese football: this episode cannot happen again. We all need to be much more forceful in the face of these acts and leave no doubt about who the aggressor is and who is the victim," declared the president of Estoril's SAD, Ignacio Beristain. The person ultimately responsible for Estoril's administration appeared at a press conference accompanied by the entire squad and staff and raised issues that he considers relevant for an analysis of the decision made by referee Nuno Almeida to continue the game after a pitch invasion that involved clashes between supporters of Desportivo de Chaves and Estoril Praia players in the final part of the match. "What would have happened if one of those hooligans who jumped onto the pitch had a knife? And I ask: what if more Estoril players had been attacked? Would they have had to defend themselves, in self-defence, and would they have been sent off, with Estoril left without enough players to finish the game? Would Estoril have lost the game then? And what would have happened if the referee or the League delegate had been attacked? Should the game have continued?", he asked. In Chaves, a pitch invasion during injury time resulted in altercations and attacks between Chaves supporters and Estoril Praia players, with goalkeeper Marcelo Carné and defender Pedro Álvaro being sent off with straight red cards. After a stoppage of about 20 minutes, the game resumed, with the home team equalising 2-2 with a goal in the 90+20th minute, when forward João Carlos was defending Estoril Praia's goal, due to the goalkeeper's sending off and at a time when the 'canaries' had already used up all their substitutions. In view of this situation, the president of Estoril Praia's SAD expressed his disbelief at referee Nuno Almeida's decision to restart the match, reporting that the 'canaries' position to end the match immediately had been put to the referee, but without his consent. "There were no conditions to continue the game. The most important people on our staff, the coach [Vasco Seabra] and our team delegate, told the referee that there were no conditions, that these players were at risk by going onto the pitch. This was stated, our position was stated to the referee of the match. Obviously, he ignored what Estoril's officials said at that moment", said Beristain. Ignacio Beristain also announced that, in addition to the request to contest the 30th match of the I League, the Cascais Line club will appeal the sending off of Marcelo Carné and Pedro Álvaro, requesting the two players be exonerated. "There was no provocation whatsoever. In addition to losing points in Chaves, we may also lose important players for the rest of the championship. We have already planned our defence, because we believe that our players, in that moment of confusion and panic, reacted as they did only in self-defence", defended the SAD leader. The director demanded "forceful" measures and a position from the entities responsible for Portuguese football, especially the president of the Portuguese Professional Football League, Pedro Proença. "Pedro Proença and Portuguese football have to decide what their position is on these episodes and when and how they will assume their decision. This is not just a problem for Estoril, it is a very serious episode for Portuguese football", he concluded. Read Also: Desp. Chaves' SAD denies violence by supporters and wants justice (Portuguese version) Read Also: Estoril confirms that it will contest the match against Desportivo de Chaves (Portuguese version) Read Also: After the chaos in Chaves, will Estoril request the match to be contested? What happened (Portuguese version) Read Also: League condemns incidents in Chaves-Estoril and calls for "unyielding" action (Portuguese version) Read Also: Desportivo de Chaves condemns clashes that occurred against Estoril (Portuguese version) Read Also: Estoril's SAD regrets the clashes and does not accept the "advantage" given to Chaves (Portuguese version)